Due to a shortage of key competencies in organisations and the rising challenge to find the right person to do a job, organisations are under pressure to assess, monitor and continuously develop their workers' competencies. At the same time, enterprise systems offer data that provide a basis for strategic decisions in the area of competence development. This domain was investigated with two case studies in two medium-sized organisations and a set of parameters describing workers, tasks, competencies, and learning measures, was derived that can be used to solve the decision problem of allocating workers to learning measures. The resulting model was reviewed in a first evaluation cycle on a micro, meso, and macro level, involving 203 employees, 16 focus group participants and six human resource experts, respectively. The feedback from the evaluation informed a revision of the model, adding factors that describe competencies of promoted team members. The preliminary results comprise an updated optimisation model as well as a set of challenges for competence development derived from the first evaluation cycle.


Design education is concerned with learning theory and its applications in the design of artifacts that are essential to our society. 3D virtual worlds have the potential to make a major contribution to design education as a new teaching and learning environment, supporting synchronised communication and 3D modeling. This paper presents three categories of formal methods we have adopted for evaluating 3D virtual worlds in design education. The paper concludes by evaluating the effectiveness of the different methods through comparison and discussion.


Grounded theory analysis is a method widely used by qualitative researchers. This method interprets empirical materials to formulate a theory about a particular social phenomenon. In this article, we describe the steps of grounded theory method, which comprises open coding of the material followed by the grouping of open codes into categories that are increasingly abstracted to capture the essential meaning of the phenomenon. This depiction is offered as a set of explicit guidelines for researchers interested in the method.


Abstract We study semicomplete meromorphic vector fields on complex surfaces, that is, vector fields whose solutions are single-valued in restriction to the open set where the vector field is holomorphic. We show that, up to a birational transformation, a compact connected component of the curve of poles is either a rational or an elliptic curve of null self-intersection or it has the combinatorics of a singular fiber of an elliptic fibration. This result is then globalized by proving that, always up to a birational transformation, a semicomplete meromorphic vector field on a compact complex Kähler surface must satisfy at least one of the following conditions: to be globally holomorphic, to possess a non-trivial meromorphic first integral or to preserve a fibration. In particular, this extends the results established by Brunella for complete polynomial vector fields in the complex plane to the context of semicomplete ones.


In this paper, we investigate properties of a new class of generalized Cauchy numbers. By using the method of coecient, we establish a series of identities involving generalized Cauchy numbers, which generalize some results for the Cauchy numbers. Fur- thermore, we give some asymptotic approximations of certain sums related to the generalized Cauchy numbers.


Acute myocardial injury may be induced by different causes, including myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury, and sepsis, which represent the most common reasons for cardiac injury in hospitalized patients. Sepsis-induced myocardial injury is considered not to be associated with leukocyte infiltration into the myocytes but is shared with many crosstalk pathogeneses. In this experimental animal study, polymicrobial sepsis-induced was via cecal ligation and puncture model (CLP), in C57BL/6 male mice (25–30 g). By using neutrophil knockout mice, in which neutrophil recruitment is impaired, we analyzed the specific contribution to the pathogenesis of CLP-induced attenuated myocardial function. We investigated the degree of myocardial injury evaluated by plasma troponin, echocardiography, and histological analyses. The pathogenesis of CLP-induced myocardial injury relies on circulating inflammatory mediators. In conclusion, these resulting data explained that myocardial injury pathogenesis may help in the treatments for myocardial injury patients.


The paper introduces the electrical design of some residential community at Xinjiang Town,including the electrical design for the potential coupling system,such as the electrical design of the monomer,the design for the distribution system,the lightening prevention and the grounding,as well as the design for the electrical system,and illustrates the electrical design should be foresighted,so as to meet the further demands of users.


Supported metal nanoparticles correspond to a very large class of heterogeneous catalysts. While detailed structure-activity relationships would require a molecular-level description of the interactions between the metal surfaces and ligands/substrates, this description is rarely accessible. Thus, most insights are often derived from model systems based on single crystals. With the goal to understand efficient alkyne semihydrogenation catalysts based on Cu functionalized with N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC), we cross this gap by investigating NHC-stabilized molecular complexes, supported single sites and nanoparticles via solid-state NMR combined with computations. We demonstrate that, in silica-supported Cu single sites, Cu retains the coordination geometry observed in molecular compounds, as evidenced by the measured and computed dipole-quadrupole cross-term interaction at the carbenic carbon bound to Cu. We show that, for supported Cu nanoparticles, which are highly active and selective for the semihydrogenation of alkynes, NHC binding is favored at Cu adatoms atop of copper surface, thus paralleling what has been inferred by surface science studies on single crystals.


Fire fatalities in the UK are attributed to smoke inhalation especially in dwellings. Another serious issue of great concern is the exposure to respirable particles of sizes less than 0.1µ in diameter found in smoke and soot and these have not been given much attention despite the health hazards associated with them. The main aim of this research was to quantitatively look at the toxic emissions (toxic gases and particulates) under different fire conditions for wood based materials relevant to residential fires and in pool fires relevant to industrial scenarios.
Different classes of wood (Natural, Processed and Plywoods) used in construction and furnishings were investigated under free ventilation conditions and restricted ventilation conditions using the standard cone calorimeter and the controlled atmosphere cone calorimeter modified to enable raw gas sampling. Pool fires (Diesel, Lubricating oil and olive oil) were also investigated using the freely ventilated standard cone calorimeter.
Pine wood crib and diesel pool of different sizes were investigated in a 5m3 fire test compartment at varying ventilation rates. Toxic concentrations were measured through a heated sampling line using a heated FTIR analyser, calibrated for 65 species.
An important finding was the overwhelming toxic gases produced by low temperature smouldering fires exceeding the impairment of escape threshold and the lethality threshold by a factor of 60-10 000 on an impairment of escape basis and a factor of 4-100 on lethal basis.
The real-time particle size, number and mass distribution from the burning fuels was obtained using the DMS 500 particle size analyser and this showed a bimodal distribution, representing a nucleation mode and an agglomeration/accumulation mode. The particle size distribution on a number basis showed a peak of 20 nm in the nano particle size range and a peak of 200 nm in the agglomeration range for most fires. These nano particles (20 nm) will penetrate the lungs in the event of fire, potentially leading to impairment of escape and eventually death due to the effects that fine particles have on the lungs thereby making them a major toxic hazard in fires. To the knowledge of the author, this is the first time that particulates in this size range (20nm and less) have been quantified from burning materials.
The modified cone calorimeter proved to be a good technique for realistic determination of toxic yields and particle size distributions when used with the heated FTIR and the DMS 500 analysers.


This is a reflective account written by a practice nurse who specializes in minor illness management. She became an extended nurse prescriber in early 2003. The patient in this case study already suffers from hay fever. He then develops symptoms of rhinitis during the winter months. The scenario explains how the nurse diagnosed and treated the patient.


A module has been developed for virtual assembly systems allowing them to more realistically simulate heavy machinery assembly. The module provides a virtual overhead crane for manipulating heavy assembly components and physically based motion of components attached to the crane. This paper shows validation of the heavy machinery virtual assembly module by performing real world tasks in the virtual environment. More importantly, it compares the simulated motions of the crane and attached load in the virtual environment with motions of a real crane and attached load. The results show a correlation between the virtual and real world for the crane velocity and acceleration, as well as angular displacement and damped motion of the attached load due to crane acceleration.Copyright © 2002 by ASME


The dimensions of telecommunication equipment are diminishing and there is a growing demand for using single printed board assemblies as disablement units. This paper presents a solution fulfilling this demand while still limiting the number of distribution cables to one or a few in each subrack. A comparison with other theoretical solutions is discussed.<<ETX>>


A radius of gyration is a particle parameter obtainable through light- or x-ray scattering in the Rayleigh-Gans-Debye regime. Radii of gyration can also be theoretically defined and experimentally obtained for scattering in the Fraunhofer diffraction dominated regime. It is shown how this applies to both oriented and disoriented scattering for particles of general shape. For oriented particles, the parameter is the root-mean-square distance from a line passing through the particle's center of mass, along the direction of intensity scanned in the plane perpendicular to the incident radiation beam direction. For disoriented particles, any scanning direction in this plane will give a root-mean-square distance from the particle's center of mass. In both cases the particle is represented as a flat mask outline. Experimental procedures and particle properties necessary for obtaining the parameters are outlined. A simple laser procedure applicable at least to many particles in the 10-μm to 100-μm size range is described.


To study matching network impact on the receiving state performance,in the state of strong coupling emitter array composed of electrically small antenna,the analysis based upon the network scattering parameters is presented according to network features of transceiver antenna,and the correlation coefficient under different termination conditions is given.Theoretical and computational results show that the matching network in the launching and receiving state has a certain commonality and meanwhile that the network termination has the obvious effect on antenna diversity performance.The theory and method for the study of strong coupling array characteristics provide convenience and conditions,and also provides strong guidance meaning in project implementation and application.


Information explosion has no doubt brought about revolution in the way we communicate. Communication has become extremely fast, crisp and devoid of human touch. While earlier in the era of face to face communication trust could be experienced through facial expressions or body language. However, now with use of Emails, sms and chats, communication has increasingly become faceless and therefore it is becoming increasingly becoming difficult to evaluate trust in relationships. Present study attempts to evaluate trust in online relationships based upon certain aspects like - intimacy, intensity, social distance and friendship score. In our study we consider trust as a dependent variable and other factors as independent variables and intend to apply polynomial regression to find out the relationship between dependent and independent variables.


The quantum mechanical propagators of the linear automorphisms of the two-torus (cat maps) determine a projective unitary representation of the theta group Γ θ ⊂ SL(2, Z). We prove that there exists an appropriate choice of phases in the propagators that defines a proper representation of Γ θ. We also give explicit formulae for the propagators in this representation.


This paper considers the increase in the Euro intra-area imbalances since the late 1990s and their role in the current European debt crisis. By focusing on the case study of Italy and Germany, we argue that both macroeconomic (the functioning of the euro area) and microeconomic (internationalization of production) factors contributed to the creation of such imbalances. When sovereign risk and currency risk emerged in the periphery, coupled with austerity as a response to these risks, both factors made the euro crisis worse. The present zero-sum-game approach is very risky for the stability of the euro area. Policy coordination of some kind is needed. This requires agreeing on well-identified economic policy priorities, taking full account of the different positions of the members in terms of growth, external imbalances, and competitiveness. New policy priorities are thus required in the euro zone that put more emphasis on cooperative (positive-sum) games in convergence and competitiveness. Copyright 2013, Oxford University Press.


It is urgent to enrich floury products with vegetable magnesium sources. One of such plants is garden spinach – one-year plant, a representative of Spinacia genus. For this aim, there were studied functional-technological properties of wholegrain flour for substantiating preparation in the chapatti technology.

Research results demonstrated that barley flour had the most water-absorbing capacity – 400 %, this parameter was almost twice less in rice and wheat flour. The most fat-retaining capacity was inherent to barley flour – 87 %, whereas in the control (highest sort wheat flour) this index was 25 %.

Technological parameters of spinach preparation in the chapatti composition have been determined: particles size – 250 up to mcm; optimal amount of introduction of wholegrain flour to the mass – 3 %; swelling process duration after dough mixing – 15–20 min for creating a total spatial structure.

The energetic value calculation testifies that the caloric number of chapatti is unessential, comparing with main dishes and is in average 220.0 kcal/100 g.

Thus, the use of spinach together with wholegrain flour in chapatti gives a possibility to increase a provision degree of the daily need in main nutritive substances for the human organism.

The aim of the work is to develop technologies of new types of culinary products and their introduction at public food enterprises


In the famous 'Moabite stone' incription, Mesha king of Moab records how, after a long series of defeats inflicted on Moab by Israel, the tide turned and Israel was (according to Mesha's over-optimistic estimate) 'utterly destroyed', 'bd 'bd ʿ lm. The passage concerning the town of Ataroth runs, 10 … w'š gd yšb b'rṣ ʿ ṭrt mʿ lm wybn Ih mlk y11 šr'l 't ʿ ṭrt w'ltḥm bqr w'ḥzh w'hrg kl hʿm[.]12 hqr ryt Ikmš wlm'b w'šb mšm 't 'r'l dwdh w'[.]13 ḥbh Ipny kmš bqryt w'šb bh 't 'š šrn w't '[š] "Now the folk of Gad had dwelt in the territory of Ataroth from of old, and the king of Israel had built for himself Ataroth; and I made war on the town and captured it and slew all the people of the town, a ryt for Chemosh and for Moab, and I brought thence 'r'l dwdh and dragged it/him before the face of Chemosh in Qryt; and I caused the men of ŠRN to dwell therein, and the men (etc)".


The Einstein–Maxwell field equations for non‐null electromagnetic fields are studied under the assumption of admitting a conformal Ricci collineation. It is shown that a non‐null electromagnetic field does not admit any conformal Ricci collineation, unless the generators of the symmetry groups are Killing vector fields. Furthermore, it is shown that the energy‐momentum tensor of a non‐null electromagnetic field can admit a conformal Ricci collineation, if and only if the collineation is homothetic. The restrictions on non‐null Maxwell field, its sources, and its invariants implied by the symmetry condition are calculated. An example of a space‐time satisfying the Einstein–Maxwell equations, and admitting a homothetic conformal vector field is also given.


THE primary and predominant alkaloid in the cured leaves of most of the varieties of Nicotiana tabacum L. is nicotine. Certain "low-nicotine" varieties, however, possess the inherent capability of demethylating appreciable amounts of nicotine thereby converting it to nornicotine (5, 6, 16). In fact, in most if not all commercial tobacco types individual plants with high nornicotine content can be found (1, 2, 6, 10, 12, 13, 16, 19). The problem of alkaloid conversion is most intriguing in that it affects not only the concentrations of total alkaloid, but also of nicotine and its various decomposition products of which nornicotine is at present considered the


Summary Complicated anatomical configuration of the temporomandibular joint was the rea son for developing standardized radiographic techniques which would provide accurate anatomical images. Tomography provides excellent bony details but no in formation of the soft tissue component of the joint. This technique is useful in demonstrating suspected hypoplasia, hypertrophy or malformation of the condyles, in the case of maxillofacial trauma with fracture description, infections and tumors. Artrography is performed to determine the status of the condyle-disk-glenoid fossa and eminence relationship with rxegard to the closed and open mouth position. Computerized tomography (CT) is superior to conventional radiograshy and conventional tomography for evaluating internal derangements of temporomandibular joint, trauma, degenerative processes and tumors. CT demonstrated good evaluation of soft tissue and excellent evaluation of bony structures. Magnetic resonance (MR) has shown exquisite soft tissue contrast and provides a view of the structures of temporomandibular joint which cannot be differentiated by conventional radiography, conventional tomography and computerized tomography. MR of temporomandibular joint can distinguish internal anatomical features of the joint to a degree that no other imaging procedure can match. An image of the articular disk without contrast media as well an image of the posterior band has made the magnetic resonance the golden standard of temporomandibular joint imaging.


Abstract A series of Pd–Cu/KL zeolites with varying Pd : Cu ratios have been studied by a combination of FTIR and XANES. XANES indicates that only one PdCu alloy is formed for all samples and that the bulk of the alloy is not modified by extended periods under CO/H 2 at elevated temperatures. A combination of low temperature adsorption studies and in situ high temperature/high pressure FTIR indicates that an adsorbate induced surface segregation of Pd occurs following exposure of the bimetallic catalysts to a CO/H 2 reaction mixture under hydrogenation conditions. A progressive loss in Pd three-fold adsorption centres is observed as a function of time in contact with the reaction mixture.


This study is to compare cognition for Taekwondo Poomsaecompetition between referee and athlete, and to suggest basic data in order for introducing...


- This study examined the moderating effect of age in the relationship between debt literacy and indebtedness of formal sector employees in Kenya. The study showed that age has an effect on the amount of debt held by individuals. Research also found level of debt literacy particularly low among youth and elderly. The study using hierarchical moderated multiple regression (MMR) models found that the coefficients for interaction term for debt literacy and age of employees had significant moderating effect. Further, the study revealed the moderating effect of age was positive and significant for Debt Service Ratio (DSR) on one hand and negative and significant for Debt Income Ratio (DIR) on the other.The young and the elderly were found debt illiterate. The government and other institutions should roll out financial education programs


One kind of a system and method for welding respectively to a first and second arc between a first and second electrode and the common workpiece, where each electrode is driven by a single power source, the system has: a first series with the first electrode an inductor, and a second electrode of a second inductor in series, and each of the inductors has sufficient inductive reactance to store enough energy to maintain an existing arc associated with the universal time of the electrodes of a selected one of the this time a substantially no current through the electrode.


I set this observation of an intensely admired critic, from whom I have learned (and purloined) so much, at the beginning of my text-my sermonical toad wears yet a precious jewel in his head-so as to keep what follows from sounding, as most discussions of reading tend to sound, like a more or less dignified whimper. Nicht diese Tone, as Schiller (in Beethoven's voice) prompts-it is a stricter resonance I would have you hear in my remarks: if not a joyful noise, at least a dutiful resolve. In any life of literary aspiration during the last fifty yearsthat is, since the universal and undisputed prevalence of television, which is probably the principal if not the determinant factor in the situation I am about to discuss-one is compelled to take out a sort of anecdotal membership in an uneasy chorus: teachers of literature, particularly in that part of the academy which is concerned with the training of writers, variously remark and identically lament what they commonly designate as "the decline and fall of reading." To abound in their sense is, in the present exacerbated state of affairs, a languid business quite without the Gibbonian vigor, and if I am, like my colleagues, doomed to entertain the grimmest of lectorial


This article examines the relationship between the Earth Charter and education for sustainable development (ESD), as part of the UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development. The areas of shared interest between the two are assessed and the invaluable nature of the Earth Charter as a resource outlining global values and principles for a sustainable, peaceful Earth asserted. Through an examination of the traditional Chinese philosophies of Confucianism, Daoism and Buddhism, symmetries with the Earth Charter principles are explored and the importance of linking the Earth Charter and ESD with local culture, belief systems and indigenous knowledge is emphasised. Methods for infusing these values and principles in education are proposed and the role of the Earth Charter as a base for linking the local and global in order to foster knowledge, values and skills for sustainable development at the individual, institutional and societal levels through formal, nonformal and informal learning settings is highlighted.


The first-order perturbation equation of DLW hierarchy is derived by virtue of zero-curvature equation. Then, Hamiltonian structure of the obtained system is given by means of component-trace identity.


To clarify the role of wetting properties on the damping of liquid oscillations, we studied the decay of oscillations of liquid columns in a U-shaped tube with controlled surface conditions. In the presence of sliding triple lines, oscillations are strongly and nonlinearly damped, with a finite-time arrest and a dependence on initial amplitude. We reveal that contact angle hysteresis explains and quantifies this solidlike friction.


A peer reviewed published version is found here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S075333222100411X?via%3Dihub In this manuscript we provide the scientific basis to adopt a novel combination of two widely available nutraceuticals; resveratrol and zinc in management of COVID-19 recommending their administration using a nano-carrier based drug-delivery system. Resveratrol, a well-known antioxidant and anti-inflammatory triphenolic stilbene, is abundant in red grapes, red wine, dark chocolate, and peanut butter. Alternatively, pterostilbene-zinc combination might be also considered for clinical trials. We recommend conducting prompt clinical trials to assess the potential of the suggested combinations as a monotherapy for mild COVID-19 with a potential to prevent its progression to moderate-severe disease for which we also recommend its trial as an adjuvant therapy. Furthermore, he suggested combinations might also possess a pharmacotherapeutic potential that exceeds COVID-19 to various inflammatory, immunologic, and oncologic diseases.


The Pb(Zr1-xTix)O3, (PZT) of thickness of 3μm was fabricated using Sol-Gel spinning-coating onto Pt/Ti/SiO2/Si substrates. The preferred orientation of the PZT films was observed using X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) and the microstructure was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The preferred orientations in the direction of the (100) plane were obtained using the treatment for pyrolysis at 573K and for crystallization at 823K. The present PZT films showed dielectric constants about 1200. Ferroelectricity of these films was established with the values of the remnant polarization of 12.5μC/cm2 and the coercive field of 29.0kV/cm.


Previous work has shown that performance and internal flow characteristics of a centrifugal pump can be significantly improved with grooved volute casing (GVC). However, it has been found that the selection of the design parameters of the groove structure also has a direct impact on the performance output, internal flow pressure pulsation and erosion wear characteristics of the overflow components of centrifugal pump, so it is necessary to further analyze the design rules of the groove structure parameters. In this study, we first investigated the influence of the number of grooves on the head, efficiency and unsteady pressure pulsation characteristics of the internal flow field of the centrifugal pump, and on this basis, the correlation between different particle parameters and the erosion wear of key overflow components under the conditions of solid–liquid two-phase flow were also studied, and the erosion wear characteristics of the inner wall of the volute casing of centrifugal pump with GVC and original volute casing (OVC) structures were compared. This research leads to the conclusion that when the number of grooves is 3, the groove structure has the least influence on the performance of the centrifugal pump, and the overall change of the performance curve is more stable. Additionally, the pressure pulsation at each monitoring point of the GVC under the same flow condition is smaller, and when the number of grooves increases, the pressure pulsation amplitude also decreases. When the number of grooves is 3, the GVC shows a more significant flow improvement effect under all flow conditions. Based on the improvement of the groove structure on the flow stability, the particle motion behavior can be affected at the same time, so that the pump with GVC can mitigate the erosion wear of the inner wall of the volute casing under the solid–liquid two-phase flow conditions, which improves the critical performance and service life of the key overflow components of the pump.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the change of performance time skills by the revision of ssirum rule. The ssirum association revised a rule on the satba grips from grip in sitting position to grip in standing position. The ssirum game was divided into moving phase, preparing phase, posture phase, and real game phase and then measured and compared the time of each phase and skiis between the different type of satba grips. In order to compare the difference between performance times, and skills by two types of satba grips, the 448 ssirum games was analyzed in Jangsa Ssirum Competition in 2000 year(before ssirum rule revision) and Jangsa Ssirum Competition in 2001 year(after ssirum rule revision). The ssirum game was recorded by 8mm video camera and analyzed by video tape recorder. All results were analyzed by t-test, x^2 and summarized as follows. 1. There was shown a significant difference between performance times in posture phase, and real game phase, and total game time in terms of two different types of satba grips by ssirum rule revision(p<.001), but there was not shown a significant difference between performance times in moving phase, preparing phase in terms of two different types of satba grips by ssirum revision. Therefor it was not shown an effect by the rule revision 2. The frequencies of arm-skill, leg-skill and trunk-skill was significantly increased after rule revision.


Experiment QUENCH-18 on air ingress and aerosol release was successfully conducted at KIT on 27 September 2017. This test was performed in the frame of the EC supported ALISA programme. It was proposed by XJTU Xi'an (China) and supported by PSI (Switzerland) and GRS (Germany). The determination of the test protocol was based on planning calculations by participants of the QUESA project: EDF (MAAP5), GRS (ATHLET-CD), IBRAE (SOCRAT), Jon Birchley (SCDAP-SIM) and LEI (RELAP/SCDAPSIM).


should be replaced by Table I andFigure 1 below.Modified sentences are the followings. Conversion effi-ciencies (CEs) obtained from titanium L-type hohlraum are3.6% and more than 7% for the S-type hohlraum with thesquared laser pulse shape. The Ti-halfraum gives a CE of6.7%, very comparable to the S-type hohlraum ones. HEN-WAY spectrometer gives higher values than DMX, and as aconsequence, the argument of LEH apparent size is not validanymore. For titanium, conversion efficiencies are up to!7% into 4p integrating between 4.6 and 6.5 keV, when alarge-inner-diameter hohlraum is used with a squared laserpulse shape. As titanium emitters at 4.7 keV, lined hohl-raums are less efficient than gas targets, which are consid-ered as an upper limit for x-ray yields since their low densityallows good laser absorption and small kinetic losses. Tita-nium-hohlraum CEs are comparable than those fromexploded foils.


The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of mother's lapping on imitation of facial gestures in early infancy. In Exp. 1, 1-, 3-, 7-, month old infants were presented mouth openings and tongue protrusions by the experimenter, on the condition of being whether on their mother's lap or alone or on a stranger's lap. The result showed that imitations appeared at 1 month, and reached its peak at 3 months, then decreased at 7 months. Concerning the mother's presence on imitation, 3-, and 7-, month old infants revealed more imitations on their mother's lap than alone or on a stranger's lap. In Exp. 2, 4-, 7-, 10-, month old infants were presented with the same gestures under the condion of being whether they were on their mother's lap or beside one's mother without touching. The result showed that the mother's lapping was more efficient than any other condition. It was suggested that the facial imitation is closely related to the hapto-postural recognition of attachment which is based on socio-emotional communication.


Background: The O-GlcNAc-processing enzymes, O-GlcNAc transferase and O-GlcNAcase, regulate metazoan cellular function by the addition or removal of O-GlcNAc on proteins. Results: Aberrant O-GlcNAc processing reduces mitochondrial protein expression and respiration. Conclusion: The addition and removal of O-GlcNAc on proteins, defined as O-GlcNAc cycling, regulates mitochondrial function. Significance: Altering the expression of the O-GlcNAc cycling enzymes dramatically impacts mitochondrial function and metabolite production. Mitochondrial impairment is commonly found in many diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer disease. We demonstrate that the enzymes responsible for the addition or removal of the O-GlcNAc modification, O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) and O-GlcNAcase (OGA), respectively, are critical regulators of mitochondrial function. Using a SILAC (stable isotope labeling of amino acids in cell culture)-based proteomics screen, we quantified the changes in mitochondrial protein expression in OGT- and OGA-overexpressing cells. Strikingly, overexpression of OGT or OGA showed significant decreases in mitochondria-localized proteins involved in the respiratory chain and the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Furthermore, mitochondrial morphology was altered in these cells. Both cellular respiration and glycolysis were reduced in OGT/OGA-overexpressing cells. These data demonstrate that alterations in O-GlcNAc cycling profoundly affect energy and metabolite production.


A five-week, research-based experiment suitable for second-semester introductory organic laboratory students is described. Each student designs, prepares, and analyzes a combinatorial array of six aromatic oligoamides. Molecules are prepared on solid phase via a six-step synthetic sequence, and purities and identities are determined by analysis of LC–MS data. This experiment engages students in a research experience: none of the structurally diverse compounds prepared have been previously reported in the literature. After completion of this experiment, products are evaluated for their biological activity in the author's research laboratory. Although execution of biological experiments falls outside the learning objectives in this course, these applications motivate students. Through these hands-on experiences, students learn about organic chemistry reactions and modern techniques, and their research skills are enhanced.


Summary Four years of experience with the algorithm method. Algorithm – an entirely different approach to finding correspondence between substances and people. It does not make any reference to signs or symptoms at all. Therefore it bypasses most of the problems inherent in our repertories. It is also a lot quicker than repertory work.


Dragonfly algorithm is a novel meta-heuristic optimization algorithm and was originally proposed for solving continuous optimization problems. To enhance the optimization performance of the Dragonfly algorithm, this paper proposed an improved Dragonfly algorithm, which was based on elite opposition-based learning strategy and exponential function adaptive steps. The elite individual is introduced to generate their opposite solutions by elite opposition-based learning. This mechanism can expand the scope of the search area and is helpful to improve the global exploration capability of this algorithm. At the same time, an adaptive step with exponential function is designed for replacing the original random step, so it can speed up the convergence rate of the algorithm. 15 typical benchmark test functions are applied to verify the effects of these improvements. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm has faster convergence speed and higher convergence accuracy than basic dragonfly algorithm and some other meta-heuristic optimization methods.


In continuation of earlier efforts (Kriegseis et al., 2013, JPhysD, Benard et al., 2013, JPhysD, Pereira et al., 2014, JApplPhys, D\"{o}rr\&Kloker, 2015, JPhysD) the present study revolves around the PIV-based characterisation of plasma-induced body-force fields in laminar boundary layers (𝑈∞≤30 m/s). Both common approaches, Navier-Stokes equation (NSE) and vorticity equation (VE), are applied to the obtained phase-resolved velocity data (24 phases). The extracted forces are compared in terms of time-averaged and phase-resolved force distributions. Additional force-magnitude information is determined to evaluate the impact of the airflow on the actuator performance. The plasma actuator exerts a co-flow force (along mean flow) in a flat-plate laminar boundary-layer flow. The power consumption of the actuator was found constant for 𝑈∞≤30 m/s. Interestingly, the determined force from NSE changes significantly with increasing airflow velocity, whereas the calculated force from VE budgets a constant integral force magnitude. Consequently, the implied assumptions of either approach are revisited and limits of the formerly consider suitable simplifications -- at least for quiescent air -- are discussed on the basis of the obtained data.


A modification to the adaptive array under the directional constraint [1] is proposed to improve its performance of rejecting wideband interference. By analogy to the pattern synthesis of an antenna array which produces a flat null in its radiation pattern, an additional quantity that corresponds to the derivative of the pattern is generated and combined with the standard feedback quantity to control the weights of the array. This composite system is tested by computer simulation experiments and the following points are demonstrated in contrast to the conventional, simple system: 1) faster adaptation against wideband interference, 2) remarkable improvement of the signal-to-noise ratio of the output, i. e., very small fluctuation.


A digital radio equipment operating at frequencies around 19 GHz is described. Designed for field trial applications it can be used in a variety of configurations, allowing trials of multichannel telecommunications systems and mobile or fixed, digitally encoded television outside broadcast links. Microwave integrated circuits are used extensively throughout the r.f. and i.f. sections of the equipment allowing the realisation of compact, easily handled modules. The equipment transmits 1 or 2 binary data streams, each having data rates up to 154 Mbit/s. Hop lengths up to 5 or 10 km are achievable, depending on the grade of service required.


Abstract This article engages with the 838–841/1435–1437 Anatolian adventures of the Mamluk amir Jānibak al-Ṣūfī. It demonstrates how Jānibak's narrative is a remarkable story full of meanings, which enable a more nuanced understanding of Mamluk engagements with southern and eastern Anatolia during the reign of sultan al-Ashraf Barsbāy (825–41/1422–38). First Jānibak's whereabouts in Anatolia are reconstructed on the one hand as they appear from contemporary source material and as they have been analysed in a handful of modern studies on the other. Against this historiographical background, a more comprehensive understanding of Jānibak's role and significance is then developed, combining local, Syro-Egyptian and Anatolian readings of Jānibak's story into one integrated social network approach. This reconstruction of Jānibak's social network in the Anatolian frontier zone finally leads to a number of conclusions on the complexity of political life in the 1430s in eastern Anatolia, on the nature of Barsbāy's state, and on the shared realities of 15th-century political cultures in the Nile-to-Black-Sea area.


Sensitivity of three serological assays such as indirect Ftab'), -enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), dot immunobinding assay (DIBA) and electro-blot immunoassay (EBIA) in detecting cow pea aphid-borne mosaic, henbane mosaic and potato Y potyviruses was compared. DIBA was found to be most sensitive detecting upto 100 pg of virus followed by F(ab')2 -ELISA which could detect upto 1 ng of virus in purified preparations diluted with sap extracts from respective non-infected tissues. EBIA could detect upto 100 ng of the virus. The genus Potyvirus in the family Potyviridae (Shukla et aI., 1994) constitute the large number of plant viruses and collectively cause the greatest agri- cultural losses (Zettler, 1990). Members of the Potyvirus are characterized by long, flexuous, rod-shaped par- ticles, 680-900 nm long and 11 nm wide, host cell- associated characteristic pinwheel type inclusion bod- ies, and aphid transmission (Hollings and Brunt, 1981; Brunt et aI., 1996). In India, more than fifty potyviral diseases are reported (Mali, 1985; Varma and Ramachandran, 1996) and some of which are eco- nomically important (Varma, 1988). Most potyviruses are transmitted through seeds or vegetative propagules collected from infected plants, necessitating sensitive detection of the virus in propa- gating materials as a part of sound management strat- egy. Sensitivity, accuracy, reproducibility, cost and adaptability to field conditions are some of the criteria to be considered while using an assay for routine de- tection. Serology is the most widely used practice for de- tecting viruses in infected planting material and also for establishing the identity of the causal virus (Moghal and Francki, 1976; Hollings and Brunt, 1981; Dijkstra and deJager, 1998). Serological methods such as ag- glutination test, ELlSA, dot immunobinding assay (DIBA), immunosorbent electron microscopy (lSEM),


Treatment of fracture neck of the femur depends mainly upon the viability of the head of the femur and internal fixation remains the method of choice if head is viable. A total of 61 patients satisfying the inclusion criteria were allotted to the two treatment groups, either a cannulated cancellous screw system(CCS) or a dynamic hip screw with antirotation screw (DHS-AS).The two procedures were compared for the time taken for union and complications like osteonecrosis and non-union. Follow-up was done at 6 weeks, 3 months, 6 months and then 6 monthly for a maximum of 2 years. Rate of osteonecrosis was comparable for both procedures but non-union was significantly higher in patients treated with CCS and those with Pauwel's type III fractures. By 6 months 83.61% of patients had achieved union. For CCS cases it was 70.97% and for DHS-AS it was 96.67% at 6 months follow up.


The results of a quality review of 89 of the 101 environmental statements (ESs) pertaining to the British forest sector over the period 1988-1998 are presented. The methodology was based on the Environmental Statement Review Package, modified for the forest sector. The standard of ESs was generally poor, only one being wholly acceptable. The ESs presented limited useful additional information to decision makers. A fundamental, recurrent issue was the failure to adequately scope assessments, leading to unfocused baseline data collection, inadequate identification of impacts, and inappropriate or inadequate determination of impact significance. Given that wholesale amendments to environmental impact assessment (EIA) legislation are unlikely in the near future, it is up to the Forestry Commission (as the competent authority) to bring about improvements in the quality of ESs. This may be achieved by providing further guidelines on the EIA process, particularly screening and scoping, and by introducing a consistent UK-wide ES review system for forestry projects.


The objective of the study was to characterize and compare the relationship between suspended sediment concentration (SSC) and reflectance in clear and algae-laden waters. A controlled experiment was conducted outdoors in a 7510-litre water tank using natural sunlight. A red loam soil was added and suspended in the tank filled with clear and algae-laden waters, respectively. A total of 20 levels of SSC (from 25 to 500 mg I-*) were created for each type of treatment. Reflectance was recorded using an ASD spectroradiometer, and the bi-directional reflectance factor was computed and analyzed. The same amount of suspended sediment generated higher reflectance between 400 and 700 nm in clear water than in algae-laden water due to the blue and red absorption of chlorophyll. The effect of chlorophyll on the SSC-reflectance relationship was minimum at wavelengths between 700 and 900 nm. For both clear and algae-laden waters, the linearity in the SSC-reflectance relationship increased with wavelength between 400 and 900 nm. A near-linear relationship between ssc and reflectance was found between 720 and 900 nm.


Aimed at the technical situation of trajectory correction in our country,the paper outlines the technique of correction mechanism on trajectory correction projectile.And the major correction techniques are analyzed and compared.The basic development trend on trajectory correction mechanism is proposed.


This article examines the application of the right to equality under international human rights law in relation to a crucial element of the right to respect for family life, namely the relationship between parent and child and, specifically, where a person seeks to create a parent-child relationship through one of the most commonly-used alternatives to natural procreation: adoption. The article first looks at whether international human rights law imposes a positive obligation on states to offer and regulate such services; secondly, it analyses human rights jurisprudence on justifications for differential treatment in the adoption process; and finally, it examines whether the jurisprudence in human rights law thus far sufficiently protects the right to equality in the field of adoption.


Abstract: We determine optimal investment criteria for a capital project whose cash flows evolve in terms of a 'modified square root' process. The modified square root process has properties similar to the Cox, Ingersoll and Ross (1985) 'square root' process but in addition, encompasses the possibility of negative cash flows. Although closed form solutions for the valuation equations implied by the modified square root process are the exception rather than the rule we are able to show that analytic solutions, in the form of infinite power series expansions, will always exist. Furthermore, we also show that when a prescribed set of regularity conditions is satisfied, these power series expansions converge to closed form valuation functions. The optimality criteria for capital investment decisions are then simplified considerably. Copyright Blackwell Publishers Ltd, 2004.


Within the fields of ophthalmology and pathology a new and productive epoch started about the middle of the 19th century. A great interest was displayed in combining the numerous new ophthalmoscopic findings with the microscopic. This interest manifested itself, among other things, in publications of clinical, histopathological, and prognostic descriptions of the malignant uveal melanoma. Works comprising a great number of tumours are, as a matter of course, known from countries with large populations, especially Germany and the U. S. A. These works deal with the tumours seen in various clinics and departments, but never with the total number of uveal melanomas in a group of population or in a whole country. The investigations regarding the prognosis differ in value, according to the chances of adequate follow-up examinations and the reliability of the reported causes of death. A clinical follow-up of surviving patients in a series has not been carried out previously. Opinions have always been greatly divided as to the correct treatment, that is whether immediate enucleation is always indicated or whether observation is permissible, perhaps even advisable. The uncertainty prevailing regarding this question is in ,hart due to a doubtful death diagnosis. No accounts of fairly large series are as yet available from the Scandinavian countries. In this country we have a unique chance of collecting a complete histopathological material and undertaking a complete follow-up. It has therefore been judged to be a matter of interest to investigate and follow up the cases of malignant uveal melanoma registered in Denmark within a ten-year period. In this country ophthalmic pathology has since 1941 been centralised in the Ophthalmic Pathology Laboratory, The University Hospital, Copenhagen (Rigshospitalet) . All cases of malignant neoplasms have been registered in the Danish Cancer Registry, instituted in 1942 under the Danish Anti-Cancer League with support of the Danish Health Department (Clemmesen 1948). Tracing of patients is facilitated by the adequacy of the census registers and the geographic conditions of the country. Moreover, the Central Card Index for Deaths of the Danish Health Department is a key to further investigation of the causes of death and to finding the death certificates in the National


Macadamia is part of the plant family Proteaceae, and the only species of commercial interest are M. integrifolia and M. tetraphylla . There is currently a growing demand for these nuts given their high nutritional and functional value due numerous studies have shown the protective effects of its consumption decreasing the risk of suffering cardiovascular diseases; however, there is a significant level of variability in regard to the quality of the nut and its derivatives. Method . Color parameters L*, a* y b* were registered on the nut and analyzed humidity, sugars, polyphenols and antioxidant activity; while humidity, Free Fatty Acid (FFA) index and the Peroxide Index (PI) were evaluated in oil. Results . Humidity levels varied greatly among the different varieties (22.9 a 40.6 g 100 g -1 ), while color parameters were similar (L*= 60.2 a 68.8). Victoria given their higher sugar content, (57.5 mg glucose g -1 ) could be consumed fresh. UCLA and Huatusco had the highest content of polyphenols (>1.2 mg EAG g -1 ) and antioxidant activity (>7.0 µmol Eq. Trolox g -1 ). The oil presented a low percentage of humidity (≤0.22%) and FFA; furthermore, the PI was lower than the permissible limit for virgin vegetable oils (15 m Eq. O 2 kg -1 ). Conclusion . Given the physicochemical characteristics of the nut and oil from the different varieties, a range of uses, preferably within the food industry, is recommended.


To date, Greece has faced considerable difficulties in coming up to the demands of the new telecommunications era of liberalization and less governmental interference. This article examines the historical evolution of the policy and argues that it is the political, economic and social characteristics of Greece that affect decisively all attempts to adapt in the radically transformed telecommunications environment. As a result, both the EU's telecommunications policy and the integration process itself are redefined and undermined. However, the formulation of a clear and long-term telecommunications policy is vital not only for the telecommunications sector as such but also for the overall economic and social development of the country.


Abstract A general method of phosphorus heterocycle synthesis has been developed. It is based on the interaction between α,β-ethylene, acetylene P(III) derivatives and reagents, which contain electrophilic and nucleophilic centres in α,β- and α,β-positions, e.g. compounds with activated multiple bonds; β-halogenalcanols and thiols; nitrilimines, nitrilylides as 1,3-dipoles. This process is an unsynchron-ic ionic cycloaddition which begins with the attack of a phosphorus atom to the electrophilic centre of a reagent.


Graphene, a monolayer sheet of graphite, shows plenty of attractive properties and has been expected to replace conventional materials in various fields. For the industrial application of graphene, a high throughput synthesis method on arbitrary substrates is strongly required. Chemical exfoliation via graphene oxide (GO) is thought to be a suitable method for the high throughput synthesis. However, the crystallinity of reduced GO is unacceptably low. Although we found that the plasma treatment with Cu catalyst yields graphene with high crystallinity from GO on a dielectric substrate, the effect of the growth parameter has been unclear. Here, we investigated the effect of the gas ratio of CH4 and H2 in this process on the crystallinity of graphene. By optimizing the gas ratio, we succeeded in reducing and restoring GO to the extent that its mobility increased to 9.0 × 102 cm2 V−1 s−1.


Using NaAlO2 and solbule glass as raw materials,KOH as the alkali source,the high SiO2/Al2O3 ion-sieve was prepared by hydrothermal method.The effects of SiO2/Al2O3,alkalinity,template agents,crystallization temperature and crystallization time on the crystalline structure of ion sieve,yield and exchange capacity were investigated.The samples was characterized by X-ray diffraction,chemical composition analysis,scanning electron microscopy,thermogravimetry-differential thermal analysis,and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.The results show that using tetrabutyl ammonium bromide as template agent,when the amount of substance mole ratio is 6.68K2O∶19.3SiO2∶1Al2O3∶624H2O,at 120 ℃ for 12 h,the high SiO2/Al2O3 potassium ion sieve synthesized is Phillipsite-K,and its chemical formula is Si21Al5.1K2.4Na2O55·8H2O.The exchange capacities of the ion-sieve to K+ in pure potassium solution and seawater are 123.22 mg/g and 56.96 mg/g respectively,and its selectivity coefficient to K+ in the mixed solution of K+ and Na+ is 95.46.The ion-sieve has high selectivity to K+,and can be used to extract potash selectively from seawater.


We discuss several moment closure models for linear kinetic equations that have been developed over the past few years as alternatives to classical spectral and collocation methods. We then present numerical simulation results for a challenging benchmark problem known as the line source and observe the relative strengths and weaknesses of each closure. The results should prove useful for application scientists in making decisions about which methods are best suited to a given problem. They also provide a guide to help numerical experts who are interested in developing new, improved methods.


This article reads Paul Laurence Dunbar's bleak migration novel, The Sport of the Gods (1902), for its close engagement with racial criminalization. While critical discussion of this text has frequently centered on whether Dunbar capitulated to or subtly satirized dominant antiblack stereotypes, I propose reading Sport of the Gods as a prescient diagnosis of what I call the "modern discourse of black criminality." This emergent discourse was structured around two poles: first, a sociological narrative of racial degeneration, and second, the Gothic figure of the monstrous, roving "brute beast." Dunbar assesses the combined stigmatizing force of these two aspects of black criminality discourse in his novel. Rather than repudiating slanders leveled against the race, Dunbar maps out the network of beliefs that engendered these stereotyped images in the first place. Through its depiction of the Hamilton family's entrapment within this ideological web, Sport of the Gods stages the impossibility of escaping from racialized criminal stigma by recourse to notions of legitimacy and innocence.


The employment of technology and digitization is crucial for cultural organizations to establish and sustain digital repositories for their cultural heritage artifacts. This exploitation is also essential in facilitating the presentation of cultural works and exhibits to a broader audience. Consequently, in this work, we propose a custom-developed digital repository that functions as software-as-a-service (SaaS), primarily promoting the safe storage, display, and sharing of cultural materials; enhancing accessibility; and fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of cultural heritage. The proposed digital repository service is designed as a multitenant architecture, which enables organizations to expand their reach, enhance accessibility, foster collaboration, and ensure the preservation of their content. Moreover, our technology stack incorporates robust and reliable backend technologies, such as Django, to ensure data security and efficient management. Meanwhile, the frontend is powered by Angular, which guarantees a user-friendly and engaging interface for exploring and interacting with cultural materials. Specifically, this project aims to assist each cultural institution in organizing its digital cultural assets into collections and feeding other digital platforms, including educational, museum, pedagogical, and games, through appropriate interfaces. The creation of this digital repository offers a cutting-edge and effective open-access laboratory solution. It allows organizations to have a significant influence on their audiences by fostering cultural understanding and appreciation. Additionally, it facilitates the connection between different digital repositories and national/European aggregators, promoting collaboration and information sharing. By embracing this innovative solution, cultural institutions can benefit from shared resources and features, such as system updates, backup and recovery services, and data analytics tools, attributes that are currently provided by the platform.


In just over a year, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has switched from its film-based aerial photo database of highway images to a digital, color bank of images. The digital inventory has working characteristics similar to the old inventory in terms of scale, image quality, ground resolution, limited relief displacement, ground coverage and the like. It is also available on- demand to anyone with access to the Caltrans intranet. Caltrans secured exclusive rights to the inventory and the system so that it can make it available to outside agencies and the public. The inventory also allows engineers to manipulate the data interactively, which could cut costs by reducing the need for field inspections and other economies.


The advent of liquidity as a matter of study and research in India may be traced back to the pre-crisis period literature on money supply which, having left its vestige until early 2010, revolved around macro-economic modeling of money, output and prices with sporadic attention to issues like endogeneity and multiplier. There are studies by academia from both sides – the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and others. There were debates between the two also. In 1998 the Third Working Group of the RBI introduced liquidity as measures of money supply. After the RBI's first guideline on asset liability management 1999, the issue of liquidity started gaining ground in academics and the RBI economists started modeling and forecasting liquidity followed by others during the pre-crisis period. In the post crisis period the issue of inflation gained ground. Again there are two sides here – one group links inflation to liquidity as an extension of traditional monetarism while the other group attributes the same to supply shocks as an extension of structuralism. This chapter likes to inquire into the drivers of above inflation in India and throw light on the facets of liquidity modeling and management in banks and financial institutions in these circumstances.


cerebellum was activated more during finger presses than doing articulation (Ramsden and others 2011). although there is a strong correlation in IQ over time, more than 50% of the variation is unexplained. The demonstration that changes in verbal and performance IQ independently correlate to changes in relevant brain structures suggests that changes in IQ, rather than reflecting measurement error, more likely reflect changes in neurobiological function. In addition, the findings indicate that specific changes in brain structure and function relate to changes in specific components of cognitive function. an important future task will be to delineate how training and experience change different brain structures and function across different periods of the life cycle. This can then help guide targeted training interventions to improve specific components of cognitive performance in both normal and impaired individuals.


We experimentally and theoretically study the controlled coupling between localized and delocalized surface plasmon modes supported by a multilayer metallic photonic crystal slab. The model system to visualize the interaction phenomena consists of a gold nanowire grating and a spatially separated homogeneous silver film. We show that plasmon‐plasmon coupling leads to drastic modification of the optical properties in dependence on the chosen geometrical parameters. Strong coupling and plasmon hybridization can be clearly observed. The numerical calculations reveal excellent agreement with the experiments. (© 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)


The study brought to the fore the issue of acute hunger and food insecurity in Philippine society during the COVID-19 pandemic. It utilised Filipino culture and the Catholic Church's fidei depositum as a framework to unravel the forms of inter-religious dialogue in the country. The study was qualitative research that used a case study as it analysed inter-religious dialogue, particularly the dialogue of life and action among Filipinos during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. In the Philippine context, dialogue takes the form of a shared life and common action. Also, the Filipino ideal of pakikipagkapwa-tao [having positive and sincere relations with one's brethren] promotes positive inter-religious relations and social cohesion. The author argued that although religion compelled many believers to help the needy, it is pakikipagkapwa-tao that undergirds the care and concern of many Filipinos to those who are suffering. Pakikipagkapwa-tao enabled cordial cooperation between religious institutions and individuals, which promoted the physical well-being of the poor.Contribution: This study contributed to a deeper understanding of interfaith dialogue and relations in the contemporary Philippines.


"The story of a young man's cross-country quest for himself and for meaning after the accidental death of a friend"--Cf. leaf iii.


Infant-directed speech is an important but difficult to measure aspect of caregiver-infant interaction. Specialized training in speech science is required and processing is computationally intensive and time consuming. We developed a computer-assisted method of measuring infantdirected speech that requires little specialized training, has high concurrent validity with alternative approaches, and has improved efficiency in estimating frequency and temporal parameters. In Schematic Pitch Coding, an operator uses a computer interface to play digitized speech samples, view the corresponding narrow-band spectrograms, and mark points of inflection in fundamental frequency (fo) using a computer mouse. Custom software generates graphic representations of fo contours and quantitative estimates of the mean and standard deviation of fo, utterance duration, and turn-taking pauses. Our current system, which is not optimized for speed, can process a 30-second sample of infant-directed speech in approximately a half hour, which makes feasible its application in large-scale studies of infant-directed speech. Measurement of ID Speech Page 3 The sound of infant-directed speech is unique. Relative to adult-directed speech, the variability and complexity of infant-directed speech provide infants and their caregivers with a highly salient communications medium with which to convey pragmatic and affective information (Ferguson, 1964; Fernald & Simon, 1984; Stern, Spieker, Barnett, & MacKain, 1983; Fernald, 1989; Katz, Cohn & Moore, 1996). Newborns prefer infant-directed speech to adult-directed speech (Cooper & Aslin, 1990; Moon, Cooper, & Fifer, 1993; although c.f., Cooper, Abraham, Berman, & Staska, 1997), with this preference appearing to be consistent throughout the first year of life (Fernald, 1984; Fernald, 1985; Fernald & Kuhl, 1987). Acoustically, researchers have examined the pitch, intensity, rhythmicity, and formant structure of infant-directed speech for specific components that may mediate infant preferences for this mode of interaction (Fernald & Kuhl, 1987; Fernald, 1989; Katz et al., 1996; Kuhl, et al., 1997). Of these four features, pitch, as measured by vocal fundamental frequency (f0), appears to be especially salient (Fernald, 1984; Fernald & Kuhl, 1987; Katz et al., 1996). Fernald (1984; Fernald & Kuhl, 1987) and others (Katz et al., 1996; Stern et al., 1983) have speculated that changes in f0 over time (f0 contours) are the primary medium for communication between infants and their caregivers. Empirical findings support their speculations. Infants will reliably orient to speech that varies in f0 (Fernald & Kuhl, 1987). Rapidly rising f0 contours orient infant attention (Fernald, 1989; Katz et al., 1996). Gently falling f0 contours soothe distressed infants (Fernald, 1989; Katz, 1998; Papousek, Papousek & Symmes, 1991). Given the importance of f0 contours in moderating infant behavior, reliable, valid, and efficient methods of measuring f0 are essential. Measurement of ID Speech Page 4 Two approaches have been used to describe features of f0 contours. One approach is visual classification of f0 shape. Fernald (1985), for instance, identified 4 regularly occurring shapes, including "rising," "falling," "bell-shaped" and "complex." A second approach is the measurement of quantitative f0 features. Typically, this measurement requires digitization of speech samples, preliminary extraction of f0 values over the length of the speech sample, errorcorrection of the extracted f0 values, and smoothing of the resulting error-corrected values (Moore, Cohn & Katz, 1994). Summary statistics, such as mean f0 or f0 variability, are then calculated from the resultant f0 contours (Fernald & Simon, 1984; Stern et al., 1983), There are strengths and limitations to these two approaches to describing f0 contours. Visual inspection provides rapid identification of f0 contour shape but no quantitative measurements. Quantitative features require accurate pitch extractions, which are difficult to obtain, labor intensive, and prone to error (Moore et al., 1994; Reed, Buder, & Kent, 1992). We present a computer-assisted method of acquiring infant-directed pitch contours that allows for rapid identification of contour shape and quantitative measurement. Although Schematic Pitch Coding is a subjective method of measuring pitch changes over time, it has high concurrent validity with objective quantitative algorithms for pitch extraction. Because of its increased efficiency relative to quantitative pitch extraction, Schematic Pitch Coding is especially well suited for processing large databases of infant-directed utterances. This manuscript describes the Schematic Pitch Coding System and evaluates its reliability, validity, and efficiency. The researcher interested in large-sample studies of infant-directed speech should consider Schematic Pitch Coding as a strong alternative to conventional pitch measurement techniques. Schematic Pitch Coding produces nearly identical results when Measurement of ID Speech Page 5 compared with conventional pitch extraction techniques at a fraction of the cost in human labor and post-processing time.


The invention provides an air input system, a method and air input acquisition equipment and aims to solve the problems that a traditional handwriting input manner has to rely on a handwriting board or a touch screen to acquire and record input tracks, and only two-dimensional plane trajectory data can be converted. The air input acquisition equipment acquires three-dimensional handwriting trajectory data input in a handwriting manner according to handwriting movement tracks of a user and transmits the three-dimensional handwriting trajectory data to terminal equipment; the terminal equipment transmits the three-dimensional handwriting trajectory data to a cloud server terminal; the cloud server terminal projects the three-dimensional handwriting trajectory data to a plane, converts the three-dimensional handwriting trajectory data into two-dimensional handwriting trajectory data for handwriting recognition and transmits recognition results to the terminal equipment; and the terminal equipment executes corresponding operation according to the recognition results. The air input acquisition equipment has the advantages that the handwriting input operation can be carried out under the space environment, and the traditional handwriting board or the touch screen is not relied on; and moreover, the conversion from the three-dimensional handwriting trajectory data to the two-dimensional handwriting trajectory data is realized.


With the background of Guangdong Longwan Bridge,the design of bilateral box main beam of large span cable-stayed bridge is mainly introduced in this paper.Meanwhile,aiming at the stress features of extra-wide prestressed concrete bilateral box cable-stayed bridge,plane finite elements software and ANSYS Program are used to analyze stress situation.It is pointed out that structure and reinforcement of anchoring tooth block of cable anchorage zone should be strengthened during the design.


Industrial Relations (IR), as a distinctive discipline or field, coexists with Organizational Studies (OS) in most UK business schools, and provides the intellectual backbone to Human Resource Management (HRM) teaching and research. Its main traditional centres are the LSE and Warwick and this key disciplinary text is the product of a sort of 'virtual' Warwick IR community, including many emigrés. Industrial Relations can also trace a direct lineage to the original 1954 edited text from the 'Oxford Group' formed by Hugh Clegg and Allan Flanders at Nuffield College. They played a central part in transforming the earlier labours of the Webbs, G. D. H Cole, and others into a more cohesive paradigm and academic community. More immediately, Industrial Relations is a major revision of the 1995 first edition, providing a state-of-the-art digest of contemporary IR research. It does so at a time when the world of work has changed so dramatically that the discipline forged by Clegg and Flanders looks about to lurch off its original tracks: the study of voluntary collective bargaining between trade unions and employers — once so central to working life. Indeed, the subtext of the book, aired in the brief historical introductions to most chapters, is a melancholy sense of the intellectual life-world we have lost. IR looks at very similar parts of society to OS, and in some national traditions is incorporated into it (see Czarniawska and Sevon 2003). In the Anglo-Saxon tradition, however, IR sees work and employment rather differently to OS, drawing upon very distinctive epistemological and ontological assumptions. Whereas post-modern OS writers focus on culture and narratives, IR is deeply wedded to economic structures, economic interests, and 'hard' empirical evidence. While OS tends to talk about the 'organization' abstracted from its specific context, IR prefers to see the 'workplace' as entangled in a web of singular internal and external institutions, reaching down from national legislation, employer and trade union structures to the details of local payment systems and shop-floor traditions. Famously, Flanders and Clegg (1954: v) chastised the emerging 'human relations' school of industrial sociology for showing 'a deplorable lack of historical understanding and, Organization Studies 25(9): 1623–1638 ISSN 0170–8406 Copyright © 2004 SAGE Publications (London, Thousand Oaks, CA & New Delhi) 1623 Authors name


IVIVC (in vitro in vivo correlation) methods may support approving a change in formulation of a drug using only in vitro dissolution data without additional bioequivalence trials in human subjects. Most current IVIVC methods express the in vivo plasma concentration of a drug formulation as a function of the cumulative in vivo absorption. The absorption is not directly observable, so is estimated by the cumulative dissolution of the drug formulation in in vitro dissolution trials. The calculations conventionally entail the complex and potentially unstable mathematical operations of convolution and deconvolution, or approximations aimed at omitting their need. This paper describes, and illustrates with data on a controlled‐release formulation, a Bayesian approach to evaluating IVIVC that does not require convolution, deconvolution or approximation. This approach incorporates between‐ and within‐subject (or replicate) variability without assuming asymptotic normality. The plasma concentration curve is expressed in terms of the in vitro dissolution percentage instead of time, recognizing that this correspondence may be noisy because of the various sources of error. All conventional functions of the concentration curve such as AUC, Cmax and Tmax can be expressed in terms of dissolution percentage, with uncertainties arising from variability in measuring absorption and dissolution accounted for explicitly. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.


Aiming at there will generate a counter-intuitive conclusion when classical DS evidence theory handle the highly conflict evidence information,this paper introduced the concept of compatibility ratio between conflict evidences based on the evidence support degree,and the concept of evidence credibility ratio,presented a new determine method for evidence weight,using DS evidence theory combination rules for data processing at last.Compared with other existed methods,this paper considered the conflict and consistency,calculated the evidence weight objectively,it was faster in data convergence,the conclusion was more consistent with facts.It made up the deficiency of DS theory and provided a new way for DS evidence theory algorithm improving.


The epitopes of HGs did not label the RAM in any of the species of Cattleya, but labeled the young and mature tissue. Except for C. nobilior, HG epitopes with a high degree of methylesterification recognized by JIM7 labeled the velamen cells in young regions. In mature roots of C. nobilior, these HGs with a high degree of methylesterification weakly labeled the cell junctions of the velamen (Fig. 4A), but strongly labeled the region around all cell walls of C. velutina (Fig. 4B) and C. walqueriana. No epitopes were recognized


Does the Central Office Staff (COS) constitute groups of isolated and passive specialists or has it cornered the power market on educational policy as claimed in Gittell's studies in the late 1960's? This article explores the impact of the COS on educational decision making in a medium-sized city from an "insider's" perspective and sets forth several testable hypotheses.


Abstract The Tibet Autonomous Region is inhabited chiefly by ethnic Tibetans. The Chinese government has always been concerned with the harmony between economic development and environmental protection in the region. Although desertification in Tibet was studied only recently, tremendous progress has been made over the last 10 years. Tibet has now become a leading region in China in studies of the distribution, monitoring, and rehabilitation of desertification. Our study in 1996 showed that desertified area in Tibet totaled 20,474,114·4 ha and the area vulnerable to desertification mounted to 1,365,180·5 ha. Judging from the factors affecting desertification processes, and the past trend of desertification, desertification in the region is an urgent problem that must be tackled. Therefore, it still remains an urgent task that must be tackled. Both central and local governments have paid enormous attention to desertification control and prevention in Tibet in order to foster economic development and to protect the environment in the region. A detailed desertification control plan was worked out in 1997. It involves three stages. In the first stage (1997–2000) which is currently under way, 437,320 ha of desertified land will be rehabilitated. In the second stage (2001–2010), another 1,397,520 ha of desertified land will be rehabilitated. In the third stage (2011–2020) 3,409,030 ha of desertified land will be rehabilitated. Because of its strategic importance in the economic development in Tibet, the middle reaches of the 'one river and two tributary' should been selected as the major region for carrying out desertification control measures while attention should also be paid to other regions.


In a KrF laser inertial fusion energy (IFE) power plant [1] an array of N laser amplifiers would focus and symmetrically illuminate a fusion target with a total of ~3 MJ of laser light. The lasers are pumped by large-area electron beam diodes, whose technology is presently being developed on the Electra [1] and Nike [2] facilities at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC. Sufficient progress has been made on these facilities that we can start evaluating the laser amplifier concepts for a fusion power plant. We are currently evaluating two such concepts where both have an the amplifier that is pumped by two opposing arrays of electron beams that are driven by solid state pulsed power systems. One concept has a 30 kJ laser output and is pumped with two large electron beams. The other is a 50 kJ design that is pumped by two arrays of four electron beams. Each beam is injected through its own foil support structure (hibachi) into a common laser cell. The former "monolithic cathode" (30 kJ case) minimizes KrF physics risks and has potentially higher efficiency; whereas the latter "segmented approach" (50 kJ case) minimizes the pulsed power costs and stresses on the foil support (hibachi). We have carried out a preliminary design study of the electron beam transport for both these concepts using large-scale numerical simulations with the particle-in-cell code LSP [3]. The simulations include detailed geometric representations of the cathode, foils, and hibachis as well as gas transport models. This integrated modeling procedure has been successfully benchmarked against recent Electra large-area diode experiments [4,5]. The simulations provide estimates of the magnitude and spatial distribution of the electron beam energy deposited in the gas, foils, and hibachi. The estimates of energy deposition in the laser gas from the simulations will be integrated with existing system designs. The amplifier performance has been examined with Orestes [6], a first principles KrF physics code that self-consistently couples the various physical processes such as e-beam pumping and amplified spontaneous emission. Orestes has been successfully benchmarked against Electra oscillator experiments [7] for a number of KrF gas compositions and pressures.


This project explores the facilitators and barriers to effective knowledge transfer between parties with asymmetric and incomplete information (Lin et al., 2005). It is intended to close a gap in our understanding of how to effectively share knowledge between parties that do not have the same base knowledge, culture, or motivation. The specific context is that of sustainable energy practices in Alaska as facilitated by University of Alaska Fairbanks Bristol Bay Campus efforts at community outreach. This is set within the broader mandate of; a) sustainable energy practices aimed at reducing cost and reliance on finite energy resources; b) the native communities desire to rebalance traditional and westernised ways of living in local communities.


In this article, we comprehensively showed the impact of barrier layer traps, buffer layer traps and surface charge on current collapse and knee voltage change, pointed out that the change in the concentration of surface charge and barrier layer traps have little influence on the 2DEG density in the channel.When the concentration of surface charge changes, the knee voltage drift and strength of current collapse are in close connection with the change of potential energy in quantum well.Buffer layer has stronger local effect than barrier layer, when the concentration of bulk traps change in these layers, knee voltage drift is mainly caused by the change of 2DEG density, but has less change compared with the situation of surface charge.Potential energy changes in the quantum well is an important reason for the change of knee voltage, the strength of current collapse is determined by the size of potential energy and 2DEG density.


This presentation deals with the second most accurate determination of the fine structure constant (0.66 ppb) deduced from the measurement of the atomic recoil using atom interferometry and Bloch oscillations in a vertical accelerated lattice.


The aim of this work is to design and implement a system that deals with the recognition of human behavior on issues of mental nature. Since the "invasion" of technology in human daily life is continuously growing, a plethora of novel applications have emerged. Therefore, there exists a growing interest for applications that will serve as an aid for people experiencing problems with work fatigue, stress and anxiety. In essence, the goal of this work is to combine ideas, theories and methods from the research areas of psychology and information technologies, towards the automatic recognition of activities that occur within a work environment. To this goal, we use a series of observations including actions, behaviors and situations that constitute sources of fatigue, anxiety and stress, based on measurements coming from several peripheral parts of a computer and also from force sensitive resistor sensors placed on the users chairs. These observations take place during working time. For behaviour recognition we use supervised machine learning techniques. We demonstrate the proposed approach using a real-life scenario.


Abstract I taught torts and legal profession at six US law schools over the course of forty years (1969–2008). This paper describes my efforts to incorporate socio-legal studies and critical legal studies into my teaching and my reflections on how successful this was.


Forty-nine patients whose clinical symptoms suggested a leaking cardiac prosthetic valve were studied by both cineradiography and angiocardiography. We found a wider range of tilting motion of the nonleaking mitral valve than has been previously shown. An angle of tilt greater than 6° for the prosthetic aortic valve strongly suggests separation of the prosthesis from its bed with a paravalvular leak, while the angle of tilt suggestive of a paravalvular leak for a prosthetic mitral valve is 12°. However, a tilt of less than these values does not entirely exclude the existence of a leak. We strongly suggest that routine cineradiography be done in each patient shortly after surgery, as a basis for comparison if the patient later develops a murmur or congestive heart failure.


After their trial, Templars in England were in 1311 dispatched singly to religious houses, where they were to observe their vows and do penance. Although there was some opposition from both Templars and monasteries, the payment of pensions assigned to Templars caused longer-lasting problems: the crown and later the Hospitallers frequently defaulted in making payment from former Templar revenues. In 1318 John XXII instructed that Templars should enter a religious house of their choice, either as brothers or lodgers. His decree was occasioned by the situation in other countries, but was implemented in England, and some Templars transferred to other religious houses, although opposition was again expressed by monasteries. There were, however, some Templars in England who were never apprehended and lived out their lives in freedom.


Method: qualitative study whose purpose was to explore everyday modes of disease and death in families of rural localities comparative perspective. Material and Methods families of Peru (Simbal) and Mexico (Tzurumutaro), semi-structured questionnaire was used to characterize families, semistructured interview data modes of disease and death. Findings reported for Sick dimension, empirical categories: families conceptualizing sick, families evaluating the origin of disease and families attending the sick and the Dying Dimension: conceptualizing families dying and death traveling families. Results: the families of both countries conceptualize the disease not only from the physical and psychological, but also social difficulties recognized as part of the process as the source of disease considering socio-environmental factors in both violence and also to Mexico, in both countries the patient care is performed predominantly by women inequality exist with man, the family is the first to detect the disease, prefer to attend the sick at home, displayed to the hospital with serious indicate fear and uncertainty take their sick. The families of both countries conceptualize death as the end of a cycle, rest in peace, end the suffering and divine will favor the death in private space because they can not express their feelings in public domain so that the estranged family, death strengthens ties of unity and solidarity among family and friends, is more pronounced in Peru than in Mexico, all are buried in Mexico, in Peru have had to cremate ever be more economic to death rites differ culturally, The observed differences are related to cultural diversity and social situation of each country. Recommendations: addressing public health policies that recognize and include social participation, humanization of health care professionals working with nursing care paradigms including intercultural issues from birth to death of a human being, to continue this line of research to Nurse taking the lead from research results and achieve social empowerment.


An alternative synthesis of (±)-tubaic acid (I), a key intermediate compound of rotenone synthesis, has been accomplished by the Wittig reaction.


In Ethnology, studying festivals is a relevant activity since it could enlighten a number of complex cultural and social processes. The festivals represent public events, public ceremonies, cluster of rituals and produce many symbols, and as such, they are in fact a creative reflection of a society. In this paper, we analyze the Exit Noise Summer Fest, the biggest music festival in SE Europe. The aim of the analysis is to gain understanding of the cultural event of this kind and its protagonists, namely, the audience. Shedding a light to a music spectacle, from a standpoint of social and symbolic communication, directs to a different perspective in reading of rituals, communities zones, and semantic constructions of noise and body in the center of ritual behaviors. The research shows that the music experience and atmosphere of the celebration, though having somewhat unclear ritual borderline and zone, are compatible with the daily culture and social processes, in which the event is created and further reflects itself through various mediums.


Apparatus for measuring the heat produced by a circuit module that is mounted on a circuit board has a tubular housing of a thermally resistive material such as plastic that is adapted to be placed over the module so that substantially all of the heat from the module flows along the axis of the housing, A thermal resistance is located between two metal partitions in the housing. The temperature drop through the resistance is calculated from the temperatures of the two partitions and the heat is calculated from the temperature drop and the value thermal resistance, The apparatus is adapted to make good thermal contact with the top of the module and cooling apparatus is provided for cooling the upper one of the two partitions. The upper partition is adjustable to vary the length of the thermal resistance in order to keep the temperature drop around 2 DEG C. for modules of different power ratings.


Introduction: Genetically engineered deletion of ProcR, the gene encoding EPCR, results in early embryonic death, secondary to developmental and functional abnormalities in the placenta (PMID 12218060). ProcR-null embryonic death is prevented by either genetically reducing TF expression or maintaining extraembryonic ProcR expression in placental trophoblast cells (PMID 15956290). These results indicate that placental abnormalities observed in ProcR-null mice are the result of unregulated thrombin generation. Thrombin activates platelets through cleavage of Protease Activated Receptors, Par3 and Par4, present on the surface of murine platelets. The objective of this work was to examine whether decreased responsiveness of maternal platelets to thrombin due to the loss of Par3 would be sufficient to overcome placental abnormality and allow the generation of live ProcR-null mice.
 Methods: Par3-/- ProcR+/- mice were generated by breeding Par3-/- and ProcR+/- mice and identified by PCR-based genotyping of tissues obtained by tail biopsies. In experimental crosses, ProcR+/- males were used to sire pregnancies of Par3-/- ProcR+/- females. Reverse genetic crosses, pregnancies of ProcR+/- females sired by Par3-/- ProcR+/- males, served as control. Surgeries were conducted to analyze embryonic survival and placental phenotypes at various stages of gestation. Presence of heart beats and limb movements were used to identify live embryos. We also employed a previously published Meox2Cre-Lox system which selectively ablates ProcR in the embryo while maintaining extraembryonic expression (PMID 15956290). Meox2Cretg/-ProcR-/- mice were generated through this system.
 Results: As previously reported, ProcR-/- mice from ProcR+/- intercrosses die on or before 10.5 days post coitum (dpc) (Table 1, Row 1: 25% or 10 ProcR-/- expected, 0.0% observed, 95% CI: 0.0 to 8.6%). ProcR-/- embryos were present in expected Mendelian proportions in pregnancies of Par3-/- ProcR+/- mothers at 11.5 dpc (Table 1, Row 2: 25% or 8 ProcR-/- expected, 26.7% observed, 95% CI: 12.9 to 45.9%) and at 18.5 dpc (Table 1, Row 3: 25% or 9 ProcR-/- expected, 25% observed, 95% CI: 12.1 to 42.2%). Thus, genetic absence of Par3 in the mother completely rescues ProcR-/- mice from intrauterine death. In contrast, in preliminary studies no live ProcR-/- embryos have so far been observed in pregnancies of ProcR+/- females sired by Par3-/- ProcR+/- males at 11.5 dpc (4 ProcR+/+, 5 ProcR+/-, 0 ProcR-/-; 7 abortions; 25% ProcR-/- expected, 0.0% observed, CI: 0.0 to 33.6%), suggesting that paternal loss of Par3 does not confer the same protection. We further noted that ProcR-/- embryos and placentae were significantly smaller than their ProcR+/- and ProcR+/+ littermate controls (Figure 1 and 2).
 To our surprise, we found that Par3+/- ProcR-/- progeny of Par3-/- ProcR+/- females were present at reduced frequency as neonates (Table 1, Row 4: 25% or 19 ProcR-/- expected, 13.2% observed, 95% CI: 6.5 to 22.9%) and most did not survive till wean (Table 1, Row 5: 25% or 11 ProcR-/-expected, 2.2% observed, 95% CI: 0.06 to 11.8%). These observations contrast with the published fate of Meox2Cretg/- ProcR-/- mice generated by maintaining ProcR expression on placental trophoblast cells (PMID 15956290) and replicated by us for comparison. As previously reported, we observed 27 Meox2Cre-/- ProcRlox/- and 23 Meox2Cretg/- ProcR-/- at wean (~4 weeks of age) from pregnancies of ProcRlox/lox females sired by Meox2Cretg/- ProcRlox/- males (P= 0.85, χ2 GOF test; 50% expected, 46.0% observed, 95% CI: 31.8 to 60.7%).
 Conclusions: Our data demonstrates that the placenta is highly sensitive to local thrombin concentrations and maternal loss of Par3 is sufficient to overcome the obligate requirement of EPCR in the placenta. Second, we show that in stark contrast to ProcR-deficient mice generated through Cre-Lox technology for embryo-specific knockout, germ line deleted ProcR mice rescued through the maternal absence of Par3 die during the neonatal period. These data uncover a critical role of ProcR in postembryonic survival.

 No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.


Ethanol extracts of 19 Malaysian traditional vegetables (locally known as 'ulam') belonging to 15 families were screened for antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities. Both the disc diffusion (qualitative) and tube dilution (quantitative) assays were employed for the determination of antimicrobial activity against six pathogenic microorganisms, i.e. two Gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus cereus and Bacillus megaterium), two Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and two fungi (Aspergillus ochraceous and Cryptococcus neoformans). Six extracts, i.e. Anacardium occidentale, Garcinia atroviridis, Averrhoa bilimbi, Polygonum minus, Diplazium esculentum and Etlingera elatior, showed antimicrobial with minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum lethal concentration (MLC) values in the respective ranges of 100 ? 800 µg/ml and 400 ? 800 µg/ml. Seven extracts, i.e. Anacardium occidentale, Garcinia atroviridis, Sesbania grandiflora, Barringtonia racemosa, Polygonum minus, Kaempferia ...


Metaheuristics are widely used in science and industry because it as a high-level heuristic technique can provide robust or advanced solutions compared to classical search algorithms. Flow Regime Algorithm is a novel physics-based optimization approach recently proposed, and it is one of the candidate algorithms for solving complex optimization problems because of its few parameter configurations, simple coding, and good performance. However, the population that initialized randomly may have poor diversity issues, resulting in insufficient global search, and premature convergence to local optimum. To solve this problem, in this paper, a novel enhanced Flow Regime Algorithm based on opposition learning scheme is proposed. The proposed algorithm introduces the opposition-based learning strategy into the generation of some populations to enhance the global search performance while maintaining a fast convergence rate. In order to verify the performance of the proposed algorithm, 23 benchmark numerical optimization functions were studied experimentally in detail and compared with six well-known algorithms. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm outperforms all other metaheuristic algorithms in all unimodal functions with higher accuracy, and can obtain competitive results on more multimodal cases. A statistical comparison shows that the proposed algorithm has superiority. Finally, an ontology alignment application study demonstrate that the proposed algorithm can achieve higher quality alignment compared to most other metaheuristic-based systems and OAEI ontology alignment systems.


In the case here reported, the malarial parasite appears to be the etiologic factor. A young man, seen in November, who had been working at his trade as a carpenter for several months in various small towns situated near the Savannah River swamps, a malarial section, had had chills and fever, in September, for which he took quinin. Whenever treatment was stopped, the symptoms reappeared, this continuing for two months. Two days before I saw him, he was driving an automobile in the country, and he thought a foreign body had entered the left eye, which suddenly became painful and inflamed, rendering sleep impossible. Examination revealed the conjunctiva of the left eye inflamed, and there was pericorneal injection. There were raised ridges on the corneal surface, having the shape shown in the illustration, the epithelium of which was raised above the corneal level; but there was no denuding of the


The objective of the research is to study the readiness of the agricultural and tourism community towards sustainable development. The study focuses on agriculture and tourism communities in Thailand that applied Sufficiency Economy Philosophy (SEP) in their development. The research prioritized the important of factors that identify community readiness in every region of Thailand. An empirical study in both quantitative and qualitative was conducted by interviewing selected persons and experts to develop the questionnaire for data collection. The respondents of the study were 12 outstanding community leaders in agriculture and tourism and 602 villagers from 251 communities in every region of Thailand. The survey questionnaire was constructed for the study and tested for reliability, which hold good reliability with Cronbach alpha value at .968. Statistical tools used for the study are Mean, Standard deviation and One-way ANOVA. The results indicated 16 community readiness dimensions. The prioritized important level indicates 8 dimensions in high level and another 8 dimensions in moderate level. The comparison of important level by regions show different opinion towards community readiness dimensions. These findings are valuable and benefit to the communities as they are the community health check for Sufficiency Economy Readiness.


Renal medullary superoxide (O2−) increases in angiotensin (Ang) II–dependent hypertension. O2− increases thick ascending limb Na transport, but the effect of Ang II–dependent hypertension on the thick ascending limb is unknown. We hypothesized that Ang II–dependent hypertension increases thick ascending limb NaCl transport because of enhanced O2− production and increased protein kinase C (PKC) &agr; activity. We measured the effect of Ang II–dependent hypertension on furosemide-sensitive oxygen consumption (a measure of Na transport), O2− production, and PKC&agr; translocation (a measure of PKC&agr; activity) in thick ascending limb suspensions. Ang II–dependent hypertension increased furosemide-sensitive oxygen consumption (26.2±1.0% versus 36.6±1.2% of total oxygen consumption; P<0.01). O2− was also increased (1.1±0.2 versus 3.2±0.5 nmol of O2−/min per milligram of protein; P<0.03) in thick ascending limbs. Unilateral renal infusion of Tempol decreased O2− (2.4±0.4 versus 1.2±0.2 nmol of O2−/min per milligram of protein; P<0.04) and furosemide-sensitive oxygen consumption (32.8±1.3% versus 24.0±2.1% of total oxygen consumption; P<0.01) in hypertensive rats. Tempol did not affect O2− or furosemide-sensitive oxygen consumption in normotensive controls and did not alter systolic blood pressure. Ang II–dependent hypertension increased PKC&agr; translocation (5.7±0.3 versus 13.8±1.4 AU per milligram of protein; P<0.01). Unilateral renal infusion of Tempol reduced PKC&agr; translocation (5.0±0.9 versus 10.4±2.6 AU per milligram of protein; P<0.04) in hypertensive rats. Unilateral renal infusion of the PKC&agr; inhibitor Gö6976 reduced furosemide-sensitive oxygen consumption (37.4±1.5% versus 25.1±1.0% of total oxygen consumption; P<0.01) in hypertensive rats. We conclude that Ang II–dependent hypertension enhances thick ascending limb Na transport–related oxygen consumption by increasing O2− and PKC&agr; activity.